The medalists of the 2008 Summer Olympics women's triathlon. Left to right: Vanessa Fernandes of Portugal (silver), and Emma Snowsill (gold) and Emma Moffatt (bronze) of Australia. Triathlon has been an Olympic sport since its debut at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia.[1] Its inclusion in the Summer Olympic Games program was the quickest of any sport:[2] the International Triathlon Union (ITU) was founded in 1989 and five years later, on 4 September 1994, triathlon's Olympic status was approved by the 103rd International Olympic Committee Session, in Paris.[3] The variant contested at the Olympics (called Olympic distance) is composed of a 1,500-meter (4,921 ft) swim, followed by a 40-kilometer (25 mi) bicycle race, and a final 10 km (6 mi) run leg. The distances were chosen based on the resulting format to be a challenge for participants (sprint triathletes as well as endurance competitors) and entertaining for spectators all over the world.[4] From 2000, the triathlon competition consisted of a men's and a women's event. A third event, the mixed medley relay involving four triathletes each covering the sprint distance, was introduced in 2021.[5] The inaugural women's event was the first to be contested during the Sydney Games, and crowned Swiss triathlete Brigitte McMahon as the first Olympic champion, over the heavy-favorite Australians.[6] The following day, Simon Whitfield of Canada, who was not considered one of the favorites, came from behind and took the men's gold medal with a 200-meter sprint finish.[7] In similar fashion, long-distance specialist Kate Allen of Austria secured the women's Olympic title in 2004.[8] New Zealand placed two male triathletes in the top two, as Hamish Carter and Bevan Docherty won the gold and silver medals, respectively.[9] At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Whitfield was on the verge of repeating his 2000 success, but failed to keep his lead over Jan Frodeno of Germany in the final meters, who pipped the Canadian to the gold medal.[10] The Australian power in women's triathlon was rewarded at the Beijing Games, when three-time world champion and favorite Emma Snowsill clinched the gold medal and Emma Moffatt secured the bronze.[11] After securing a second career Olympic medal in Beijing, Simon Whitfield (one gold and one silver) and Bevan Docherty (one silver and one bronze) were the only triathletes to have won more than one Olympic medal.[10] In 2016 Alistair Brownlee (twice gold) and Jonathan Brownlee (one silver and one bronce) as well as the first woman, Nicola Spirig Hug (one gold and one silver), joined this circle. In 2021 at the delayed 2020 Summer Olympics. Jonathan Brownlee became the first and, to date only, triathlete to win three medals, and the first to have a full set of gold, silver and bronze. Canadian Simon Whitfield was the first gold medalist in the men's Olympic triathlon, in 2000. Kate Allen of Austria came from behind to win the 2004 women's Olympic triathlon event. "Events". Triathlon.org. International Triathlon Union. Retrieved March 13, 2010. "Triathlon". Olympic.org. International Olympic Committee. Retrieved August 20, 2020. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Triathlon". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 17, 2020. Retrieved July 1, 2009. ^ "Triathlon Equipment and History". Olympic.org. International Olympic Committee. Retrieved March 13, 2010. ^ "ITU Triathlon Facts & Figures". Triathlon.org. International Triathlon Union. Retrieved March 24, 2010. ^ "Triathlon, taekwondo added to Olympics". The Sunday Argus-Press. Associated Press. 4 September 1994. p. 6. Retrieved 21 July 2010. ^ Hobson, Wes; Clark Campbell and Michael F. Vickers (2001). "Chapter 18, Race Day: Olympic Distance". Swim, bike, run (2nd ed.). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. p. 230. ISBN 0-7360-3288-6. OCLC 45583386. Retrieved July 2, 2009. ^ "Triathlon". Olympic.org. International Olympic Committee. Retrieved July 3, 2009. ^ "Golden surprise – Swiss McMahon upsets Aussie for triathlon gold". CNN Sports Illustrated. CNN. September 28, 2000. Retrieved July 3, 2009. ^ "Simon Whitfield". The Official website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad. Archived from the original on April 28, 2009. Retrieved March 14, 2010. ^ Michaelis, Vicki (August 25, 2004). "Australian-turned-Austrian Kate Allen wins triathlon with late surge". USA Today. Athens 2004 Olympics. Gannett Company. Retrieved July 3, 2009. ^ "Hamish Carter wins men's triathlon". Xinhua Online. Xinhua News Agency. August 26, 2004. Archived from the original on November 18, 2004. Retrieved July 3, 2009. ^ a b "Germany's Frodeno Wins Triathlon at the Wire". The Seattle Times. The Seattle Times Company. Associated Press. August 18, 2008. Retrieved March 24, 2010. ^ Crutcher, Michael (August 18, 2008). "Emma Snowsill wins triathlon gold medal at Beijing Olympics". Herald Sun. The Herald and Weekly Times Ltd. The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved July 4, 2009. This page was last edited on 19 October 2023, at 18:34 (UTC). additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.